Spring Break 2014 Highlights

Watching Frozen.

Celebrating Sydney's 2nd birthday.

Golfing with Chris, Cody, & Price.

Girl time with Krystal & Kandace

Family walks in the park

Scrapbooking

Dinner with family.

New Haircut & Highlights

Celebrating Tyler's 21st birthday

Mid-afternoon naps.  

Quiet afternoons filled with reading

Watching Saving Mr. Banks

Friday night with more family

Cooking lessons from a sweet sister-in-law who never laughs at my ignorance when it comes to the kitchen.

Listening to nieces & nephews run through our home playing and laughing.

More golfing with Chris & girl time with Krystal.

Shopping

Watching March Madness - even if my bracket was horrible this year.

Extra time together all week long.

Bottom Brackets

What a frustrating appointment.

Yesterday morning I went to get my bottom braces.  The first thing he did was smooth out that band that was slicing my tongue to pieces.  A nice gesture, but a week late.

Then we tried yet again to fit a band around my crown. 

No go!

Apparently the dentist that put that crown on did not shape it correctly.  It is not shaped anatomically correct which means a band does not fit around it.  It is very frustrating for everyone.

I left there today without a band.  He put a spacer back in on side of the tooth and a piece of brass wire wrapped around on the other side.  

I'm really not sure how this is going to help because he said that space wasn't the issue.  The issue is the shape of that crown.

At this point I think it might be easier to have my dentist reshape that crown...if that is possible.

Dr. Lay went ahead and wired up what he could on the bottom.

For some reason they used a different color power chain on the bottom.  I didn't realize it until it was too late.

I'm a little frustrated about.  I DID NOT want two different colors.

Not a huge difference.  I'm not sure Andrew would not have noticed if I hadn't pointed it out.  But it still bothers me enough that I requested my next appointment as soon as possible so that I can change the bottom ones to match the top.  

Also it is just uncomfortable and slightly painful to have your mouth stretched open beyond its limit for a solid hour.

I had dinner with my family Monday night and my Mommom asked if I ever got tired of them and took them off for a little bit.

I wish, Mommom, I wish.

Especially now that I have bottom braces.  They are so much worse than the top braces just like I imagined they would be.

But my bottom teeth is where I needed the most work done.  They are the teeth that are crowded which is definitely accentuated by my bottom brackets.  They are right on top of each other.

Not to mention this tooth that is pretty much turned sideways.  That should be fun to rotate.

Sometimes it feels like I've had them forever, yet it hasn't even been a month.

One thing is for sure.  I'm ready for my husband to start this process.  His extraction will take place in less than a month.  A week after that he will get his braces.

I'm glad we are doing this together.  I think it will make it a little more bearable.

Five Facts from a Brace Face

1. Eating with braces is pretty much the most disgusting thing ever.  EVERYTHING seems to get trapped somewhere in the braces.  

2.  It may just be me but I find myself to be more self-conscious about my braces around my family.  I haven't even thought about them when facing my husband, students, or co-workers.  But in the past few days I've been around family for the first time since getting braces.  I found myself wanting to hold back laughs and say very little.  I didn't want them to see my braces or my gaps.

3. I cannot imagine having these things on my bottom teeth - but I guess I'll experience that in a few days.

4. Since starting the conversation about getting braces I find that I notice people's teeth a lot more.  It has become the first thing I notice about people - not just strangers but everyone.

5. Having someone tell you that you can't eat certain food or you will risk breaking a bracket only makes you want to eat those foods - even if you don't normally eat them.

Five on Friday

{one}
 Not only is it Friday, but Spring Break starts today!!!  

{two}

Next weekend we are having a yard sale.  When we moved into our house we acquired A LOT of stuff.  As we were unpacking and organizing I was sorting and pricing items for this yard sale.  Most everything is priced and ready to go.  However, I still need to go through our clothes and a few other things.  My goal is to get rid of A LOT of stuff and maybe even make a little money.

{three}

I have my bracket all filled out and I am enjoying March Madness.  I'm excited about our little family competition especially since there are more family members joining in on the fun this year.  To make it even better I'm not the only girl this year.  I have a feeling the boys, who actually know what they are doing, have a good laugh whenever they look at my bracket and who I have winning it all.  Maybe I'll get lucky.  

{four}

I feel like I'm the only person who hasn't watched this movie.

I'm watching it over Spring Break.  I'm thinking it a must on my to do list.  

{five}

And just because I haven't shared any pictures of my sweet furbabies in entirely too long...

Power Chain, Wire, and Bands Oh My!

I had my second orthodontist appointment this morning where I received three out of my four bands, my top wire, and top power chain.  Sadly, I didn't have my trusty photographer with me today to take pictures of the whole process.  Thankfully Dr. Lay gave me a mirror so I could watch what was happening.  But since I don't have pictures, I thought I'd share my video of how the appointment went.

Sunday Randomness

{one}

Today is my last day with my spacers and I could not be more excited.  They are designed to create space between my teeth so that Dr. Lay can put a band around my teeth.

And though I'm pretty sure I haven't had the pain that most people have thanks to my extractions and the fact that those teeth have space to move into, they haven't exactly been enjoyable.  It has been excruciatingly painful to chew on those back teeth the past couple of days.  I assume that is because the spacers are doing their job.  I'm ready to have them removed tomorrow morning even though it means a new kind of pain with the bands and wires that I will receive.


{two}

On a more fun note my sweet concert-loving husband bought us tickets to see James Taylor this summer.  I can't wait.  We saw him a few years ago and it was an amazing show.

The concert is the night before we leave for vacation so it will be a great way to kick off a week of relaxation and fun in the sun.

{three}

Today is Selection Sunday.  I have filled out my bracket and am now waiting not so patiently for other family members to complete theirs and for games to begin.  I feel like my bracket is ridiculous which is ridiculous because I have no idea what I'm doing.  It's fun though.  My goal is always to not come in last place and to beat Andrew.

{four}

We are trying to be better about eating at home and eating healthier, but yesterday we tried a new Mexican restaurant in town.

They make homemade cheese dip and guacamole.  Andrew declared their guacamole the best in town.  The food was delicious and the service was incredibly friendly.  We will definitely be eating there again and probably in the near future.

{five}

Friday morning I drug out some of my spring clothes in search of my Pi Day shirt.  It made me ready for skirts and flowery prints.  Don't get me wrong.  I love my boots and my scarves, but I'm over them.  I'm ready for beautiful spring weather that last longer than a day or two.  

Spacers and Top Brackets

Today was the first of what will be many orthodontist appointments.  

I was actually looking forward to this appointment. 

See. No shirt clenching.  Nice and relaxed.

 The extractions are over.  I'm thinking that was hard part.  Now that it is over I'm ready to get the braces on and start closing these gaps.  Unfortunately Dr. Lay said that closing those gaps was one of the last steps of this long journey.  

The first step today was learning about all the things I can't eat.  Being a picky eater has never come so in handy before.  There wasn't anything on the list today that I'm sad about not eating.  

Then the assistant cleaned my teeth and they pried my mouth open with this crazy blue contraption.

Beautiful huh?

You see a few of my brackets in this picture.  Dr. Lay glued all the top ones on today.  They use this blue light to seal them in place.

It wasn't long and all my top brackets were glued on.

As if I didn't look young enough as it was.  Now there is no way people are going to believe I'm thirty!

The last part of the appointment was a tiny bit painful.  The assistant put four spacers in on bottom and four on top.  They really weren't too bad except one of the top ones hurt when she put it in.  It is basically like a rubber band that goes between my teeth. 

It was a quick and easy appointment. 

I will go back on Monday to get my wire and bands on the top brackets.  My students are  most excited about this.  This is the part where I get to pick a color.  They all have opinion on what color I should get.  I'm torn between something less obvious like silver or a fun color.  

I will also have my spacers removed at this appointment.

Then I will have my third appointment the last Friday of this month.  That is when they will put my bottom brackets and wires on.  Then I will be set for awhile.